Recent results of the IGEX ⁷⁶Ge double-beta decay experiment

The International Germanium Experiment (IGEX) has now analyzed 117 mol yr of data from its isotopically enriched (86% Ge-76) germanium detectors. Applying pulse shape discrimination (PSD) to the more recent data, the lower bound on the half-life for neutrinoless double-beta decay of Ge-76 is deduced: T-1/2(0v) > 1.57 x 10(25) yr (90% C.L.). This corresponds to an upper bound on the Majorana neutrino mass parameter, [m(v)], between 0.33 eV and 1.35 eV depending on the choice of theoretical nuclear matrix elements used in the analysis. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/lnterperiodica".